Newmarket Hockey Club was founded on 10th October 1948 as a mixed team and has played at a number of venues throughout its history, including Stanley House, the Town Ground, the Upper School, Scaltback School, George Lambton’s and Ely. As one of the smaller clubs in the region, the club has frequently struggled to attract players, quite possibly because Newmarket’s presence has always been overshadowed by horse-racing and other more mainstream sports. Surrounding clubs have tended to tempt more youngsters and seasoned campaigners into their sides with the promise of larger reputations and facilities, while Newmarket often struggled to strengthen.

Nevertheless, separate men’s and ladies teams were formed and the club moved away from playing on grass in the early 1990s, playing and training on Astroturf and allowing their players to develop their game and thus compete at a higher level. An unfortunate side effect of this was that every game became an away game, as the teams were forced to travel to either Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds or Ely for their hockey. A fundraising campaign immediately began to fund construction of Newmarket’s very own local Astroturf, the club actually entering the Guinness World Book of Records for the longest ever hockey match when the club staged a 60-hour hockathon, back in 1992.

Above: George Lampton’s playing fields in 1992 as the club staged a 60-hour long hockey match.

The fundraising campaign was successful and the club returned to the Upper School, playing on the brand new Astroturf which was completed in 2006. With a healthy flow of keen young players coming through from both the local school and Newmarket’s thriving junior section, the future is looking very bright indeed.